Robin Skone Palmer

Robin Skone Palmer

The Camouflage Cat

Paddy has found the perfect hiding place — right in plain sight. Where does the cat end and the blanket begin?

If you’re as old as I am, you might remember a little poem about “The gingham dog and the calico cat.” Well, how about a Camouflage Cat?

Paddy O’Cat has been studying the art of camouflage He has learned that there are times being invisible is a good thing. For instance, when he sees the cat carrier come out of the closet — nothing good ever comes of trips in the cat carrier. Also, when he sees Lop Ear stalking toward him or when Smokey snarls at him and he needs a quick getaway.

Fortunately for him, I have a blanket that is the almost exact same colors as his fur. He is so successful at disguising himself on this blanket, that several time I have started to make the bed not realizing that he is on it.

Blackjack, my sweet but not-too-bright little kitty, was impressed at Paddy’s idea of camouflage and decided to try it for himself. As you can see, this experiment was not an unmitigated success.

So I just don’t get it. Paddy O’Cat lies on the blanket and he practically disappears. I lie on the blanket and Mom walks in and says, “Oh, hi, Black Jack.”

Black Jack, however, is a master of disguising himself in the middle of the night on the rug. Sometimes when I get up in the middle of the night, the first I know of his presence is when I feel something soft and squishy under my feet while I simultaneously hear a high-pitched screech. (Just to let you know, I’ve never actually done him any damage since as soon as I feel something that shouldn’t be there, I stop. His screech is one more of outrage than actual harm.)

So I guess we all have our own kind of camouflage. What works for one doesn’t work for the other. And sometimes, even what works for one doesn’t work for the same one on a different day.

So, I don’t become invisible unless I’m sleeping on the magic blanket?